Pompeii
by the-yellow-rose-girl
Summary: Tyzula Month 2016. It feels like rebuilding the walls of Ba Sing Se brick by brick while ash rains on her from above. But that doesn't stop her. Nothing can stop her. Redemption told in 100 word drabbles.
1. Chapter 1

_**AN: Tyzula Month 2016. It's a very strict word count challenge/collection.**_

* * *

 **001\. Fancy**

Ty Lee fancies herself as a dragon-slayer.

That's the general consensus when she declares that she is going to be Azula's savior.

Or maybe she fancies herself as a key that will unlock the sweet, sensitive heart that is absolutely not inside of Azula.

But fantasies are worth more than failures, and Zuko has been defeated every time he tried to help his sister heal.

So, Zuko ignores what everyone believes and says, "I believe in you. I believe you can do this."

Ty Lee smiles at him. She looks like she is in a daydream.

"I know I can."


	2. Chapter 2

**002\. Convict**

Zuko is stunned by Ty Lee's first tactic.

She doesn't say a word. She isn't slaying a dragon; she's observing one.

So Azula is the one who speaks first.

"Why have you not said a word to me?" Azula demands. "Did you lose your tongue?"

"No. I only misplaced it," Ty Lee replies. "I've been watching you serve your sentence."

"I have never officially been convicted of a war crime. For once, my father stealing my accomplishments paid off," Azula says. She crosses her arms.

"You've kinda imprisoned yourself."

"I didn't know you were so poetic."

"I didn't either, princess."


	3. Chapter 3

**003\. Harsh**

Ty Lee doesn't believe in tough love. She thinks it just hurts people.

But she does believe in not treating Azula like she is fragile. The princess might break down or be broken, but she is still the conqueror of Ba Sing Se, and Ty Lee doesn't want to imagine the girl she always loved being… different.

"No, you changed before you broke down. Do I think you're sick? Yes. Do I think you're fragile? No way. I'm not just being nice. You haven't lost it," Ty Lee says. "That's harsh truth."

"Then I expect you to fear me."

Progress?


	4. Chapter 4

**004\. Learning**

Nobody said it was easy.

Yet, Ty Lee thought they might be exaggerating how hard it was. She was best friends with this girl for so long, and it should be just as easy to deal with her as it was before. The changes were hard to see, but it was the perpetuities that made her want to quit.

The truth is, Ty Lee now realizes that she learned how to be Azula's friend…

and _then_ she learned how to be a healthy, self-sufficient person.

Now she had to learn how to be both, which was the hardest of all.


	5. Chapter 5

**005\. Reversal**

"I thought there'd be some kind of reversal of power, but you're really against it," Zuko comments. Ty Lee shrugs. "What is with you? You're confusing me. This is confusing me."

"She doesn't play unless she makes the rules. Or thinks she makes the rules, at least." Ty Lee shrugs again.

"You're smart," Zuko says, puzzled.

"I know. I mean, thank you!" Ty Lee smiles innocently. Zuko feels all the more befuddled.

"Keep on keeping on?" The Fire Lord doesn't know what else to say.

"I will! It's a pleasure!"

Zuko has no idea how it could be a pleasure.


	6. Chapter 6

**006\. Tyrant**

"I don't know why you tolerate her," Zuko says over breakfast.

Ty Lee had been paying too much attention to fruit; she hadn't even thought about conversation. She really didn't want to have conversation, to tell the truth, because Zuko always wanted to talk about Azula.

Everyone thinks Ty Lee is doing it wrong.

But Azula is a tyrant by birth. Zuko forgets that he is the same, but he overcame that nature.

No one notices that Zuko had been in Azula's shoes before, but he was way better off, at least in Ty Lee's opinion.

"Because I love her."

 **007\. Glacial**

Ty Lee does not think about romantic love until a very cold day.

It is uncharacteristic of the Fire Nation, even at this time of year. Azula stands on the patio and wonders why she does not go back inside.

"Why are you out here?" Azula asks Ty Lee.

"Because you are," Ty Lee replies.

"And you are always with me," Azula says coldly.

"I am. I'm always with you and I always will be," Ty Lee says.

In the very uncomfortable following silence, Ty Lee leans forward and kisses Azula on the lips.

It warms their cold, cold skin.

 **008\. Dollhouse**

Azula sees her as a doll to play with.

It is so very easy. Her emotions are tied to Ty Lee's and her fake emotions spark very real ones in that Kyoshi Warrior. Not a Kyoshi Warrior anymore. A doll.

Ty Lee hurts when Azula hurts. Ty Lee hurts when Azula pretends to hurt.

How absurd is that? Azula has never experienced anything like it before.

Her head is too easy to make into a toy. No one could blame Azula for using her breakdown in such a way.

The palace is her dollhouse, and Ty Lee is her doll.

 **009\. Late**

Ty Lee stays up late.

Azula is that reason, of course.

"Do you do anything for yourself anymore?" Azula asks and Ty Lee thinks for a long time.

Blinking her dry, tired eyes several times, Ty Lee says, "No, no I don't."

"How very unfortunate. Perhaps you should. I thought you moved past being mine and made yourself independent," Azula says.

"I am independent. I'm choosing this, and everybody better stop telling me not to," Ty Lee says.

"So ferocious." Azula smirks and sets her hand over Ty Lee's. "I like that nerve."

"I like you."

"I like you too."

 **010\. Promise**

Azula makes a promise to herself in the mirror.

"I will stop falling in love with her. She's mine to toy with. I will not show her real emotions. This is how it works. I will stop falling in love with her. I will stop falling in love with her. I will stop falling in love with her. I will stop falling in love with her. I will stop falling in love with her. I will stop falling in love with her. I will stop falling…"

Unfortunately, Azula is a notorious breaker of promises, and this one is no exception.


	7. Chapter 7

**011\. Evening**

It is a beautiful evening. The moon is large on the horizon and the pink only fading from the sky now. Azula watches from her window and considers going outside into the warm night air. She does not know what she wants to do anymore.

She never knows what she wants to do anymore. It all became too complicated the moment she turned herself in. Why did she turn herself in? She thinks she may regret it.

And she also deeply regrets letting Ty Lee try to save her, or whatever it is she is doing.

She hates loving someone.

 **012\. Elite**

"I am the best at all I do," Azula says. Ty Lee nods; she knows better than to ever argue, and she knows that Azula does have a point. "And I am excellent at figuring people out. You are…"

She is not excellent at expressing her feelings. Ty Lee kind of assumed Azula had less feelings than Mai, but maybe Azula just has no soul or conscience or care for others.

Caring for someone else must be really hard for the princess, and Ty Lee keeps that in mind.

"You're amazing," Ty Lee says.

She really means it, she thinks.

 **013\. Metal**

"Ouch!" Ty Lee shrieks, rubbing her bleeding finger. That just makes it hurt worse and she feels her heart begin to thud.

"What did you do to yourself?" asks Azula.

"Nothing," Ty Lee whispers.

"Tell me now," Azula demands, and she sounds so _regal_ that it's hard to resist.

"I cut myself by accident on this thing," Ty Lee says, pointing at a metal dragon with her good finger. The scales are quite sharp.

"Well, I will have to destroy it then," Azula says and Ty Lee does not know if she is being mocked or not.

"You will?"

"Yes."


	8. Chapter 8

**014\. Hostage**

"You are not leaving," Azula says in _that_ voice.

"Well, I'm your humble hostage, so I guess I have to figure out something else to do," Ty Lee says, unable to hide or stop her smile. It's impossible not to find this funny.

It probably would have been scary at one point, but being Azula's pseudo-prisoner is not as bad as it should be. But Ty Lee abruptly stops laughing.

"What is it?" Azula asks, somewhere between accusatory and compassionate.

"I've seen what you do to your real prisoners, princess."

"Well, then you know how much I l- _like_ you."

"Yeah…"

 **015\. Tiara**

"That's not a crown; that's a tiara," Ty Lee says and Azula cocks an eyebrow.

"It is a crown. It is called a crown. I have worn a crown for my entire… most of my entire life. I know what a crown is."

"But it's so _tiara,_ you know? Like when you were a kid it was really a tiara," Ty Lee muses, holding the gold up to the light.

"What even _is_ a tiara?" Azula asks.

"A kind of crown," Ty Lee says, not realizing the trap.

"You see. It is a crown. You said it yourself." Azula smirks.

 **016\. Impure**

"My father would hate you so much more if you stayed with me," Azula says. "Although, if I think about it, it is entirely your fault that his empire fell and he lost everything he loved. But don't say that, of course."

Ty Lee stares with her mouth open. She just became _more_ terrified, because Azula's idea of being _comforting_ is awful.

"What. Could. Be. Worse?" Ty Lee asks quietly.

"You could be a boy," Azula says. She smiles as if that is helpful.

"But if I was a boy, your dad would have killed me _way_ before this suffering."

 **017\. Flavor**

"Your lips taste good," Ty Lee says.

"Tell me about your conversation with my father."

"But your lips taste so good that I forget."

"Someday, Ty Lee, I will teach you how to lie. You are a terrible liar, and you are always telling me to redeem myself with _honesty_." She gags. Ty Lee sighs. "Do not be a hypocrite or I will murder you."

"That's a really steep punishment for hypocrisy," Ty Lee whispers to herself.

Azula of course overhears. "I know. This is why no one lets me make the rules, because they say things like _steep punishment_."

 **018\. Careless**

"I love you," Ty Lee says quietly. She has said it many times before to Azula through this dreadful process, but she never has meant it so _romantically_. It always was just reassuring them both that they would make it through this.

"Of course you do. It is obvious," Azula replies, which is not what Ty Lee wanted to hear.

But it is the kind of thing Ty Lee _expected_ to hear.

"Do you love me?" Ty Lee asks like a fool. She knows she shouldn't.

"I do not throw comments like that around as carelessly as you do."

"Oh."


	9. Chapter 9

**019\. Hazard**

"It is very dangerous to love me. You should know that," Azula says, and Ty Lee is not certain what to make of it. It could be for her protection, or it could be Azula being cruel.

Ty Lee decides that it is probably a mixture of both.

"You were just telling me I had to stay. You were just basically about to imprison me so I don't leave," Ty Lee replies. "It's not like you have your father to worry about."

"Yes. I do."

Azula says no more, and Ty Lee does not understand.

How could she possibly understand?

 **020\. Egocentric**

"You'd probably be happier dating a mirror," Zuko says, smiling and laughing, and Azula flashes a glare his way. "What? You could even get one that you could carry around with you."

Azula thinks carefully about how to reply. It could go so very awry, after all.

"Maybe I would be. I am not happy dating _her_ ," Azula replies, and Zuko thinks he hears something different in her voice.

It might be regret. Is it regret? There is no way it is regret. No way.

She loves herself far, far, far too much to feel a lick of remorse.

Right?

 **021\. Apple**

"Why aren't you eating?" asks Ty Lee's mother.

"Why do moms always ask that? Why do you care if I eat or not? I'm an adult!" Ty Lee snaps, her face flushing from the sudden rage. She quiets almost instantly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be so mean."

"I know," her mother says, as if she could possibly understand Ty Lee's agonizing pain.

Ty Lee looks at the apple slices in front of her and wants to hurl them across the room one by one.

She does not, however, because she is an adult and can mostly restrain herself.

* * *

 ** _AN: Yeah, this won't be done by the end of today. It'll be done within the next few days, though, I promise. I've been bouncing around my family's various houses for the past month and it's been hectic._**


	10. Chapter 10

**022\. Costume**

"What are you hiding?" demands Princess Azula.

Ty Lee stands with her hands resting on Azula's hips. She does not move them, even though she thinks she might be shaking. It is undeniably frightening to be confronted by Azula, by her rage, by her power, by all of that sexiness.

But…

"What are you hiding?" Ty Lee whispers.

" _You_ ran away," Azula snarls.

"I'll come back. I'll always come back."

"You're not the dragon-slayer; you're a dumb little girl wearing a dragon-slayer costume."

"Right; I'm not the dragon-slayer. I'm a lot of things."

"Like what?"

"When you're fire, I'm water."

 **023\. Unbroken**

Ty Lee sits across from Azula, looking out at the fire-lily laden plains. They found a great spot, but they aren't speaking at all. That makes Ty Lee _extremely_ nervous, to tell the truth. Ever since she ran back into Azula's arms, things have been different between them.

"What are we? Is our… is our us broken?" Ty Lee asks inarticulately. Her face flushes from more than just the summer sun.

"No," Azula replies after a long pause. " _Our us_ is not broken. I will not let it break."

"You want me?"

"I think my body wants you."

"Close enough."

 **024\. Institutionalized**

Azula goes to talk to her father. It has been a long time, and her almost-girlfriend insists upon accompanying her.

"You never visited me," Azula says while they walk through the doors.

It takes Ty Lee a moment to realize what Azula said. She then ever-so-slightly hangs her head.

"I was scared," Ty Lee admits. She quietly walks beside Azula until they are face to face with Ozai.

He examines his daughter with an unreadable expression. Pride, maybe. Envy, maybe. Ty Lee isn't sure.

"And you brought…?" he asks.

"Your future daughter-in-law," Ty Lee says confidently.

That's news to Azula.


	11. Chapter 11

**025\. Thief**

"My _what_?" Ozai demands, his eyes burning with sudden rage.

"Your _what_?" Azula also demands, her eyes fixated on Ty Lee.

Ty Lee tries to think quickly. That has never been her greatest strength. She turns to Azula, then to Ozai. She imagined this going quite differently.

"I brought Azula here to propose to her. Traditionally, I have to do that through you," Ty Lee says.

"You will do no such thing. My daughter will not marry a circus slut."

"Thanks, but it's Azula's choice," Ty Lee chirps.

"You cannot _steal_ my daughter," Ozai growls.

Azula smirks. "She already has."

 **026\. Circus**

After leaving the prison, Ty Lee rips a flier from a post. She shrieks excitedly as Azula tries to figure out what happened.

"The circus is back!" Ty Lee squeals, hugging Azula for no reason. "It's for the first time since I was twelve! That's ten years!"

Azula breaks free from the embrace and snatches the parchment.

"Perhaps I will tolerate a visit," she says and Ty Lee shrugs.

"It would be good. We'll have so much fun! You're doing things!" Ty Lee hugs her tightly. "And we're getting married too! This is a wonderful day!"

Azula averts her eyes.

 **027\. Forget**

"I don't want this anymore," Ty Lee says angrily. Azula watches her with a careless expression. "You see me as what you can take from me. I give my energy and my love. I give and give and give but now I've run out."

"Then walk out again. See if I care," Azula replies. It is her tone that makes Ty Lee hesitate; Azula does not want her to leave. That makes it hard.

Azula always has done the impossible; maybe a psychopath can truly love.

Ty Lee forgets her thoughts of flight and sleeps beside Azula again that night.


	12. Chapter 12

**028\. Forsaken**

"I'd forsake everything I've ever had to have you," Ty Lee says and Azula stares at her for long, terrifying moments.

"Save it for the wedding vows," Azula says and Ty Lee sighs.

"You really are lucky to have me, and I think you know that. I think you know how much I've done for you, and how much I've done it out of love. I've tried to make you happy, because, for some really weird reason, you make me happy," Ty Lee says and Azula cocks an eyebrow. "That's more along the lines of a good wedding vow, right?"

 **029\. Dance**

"It's just practice," Ty Lee whispers as she and Azula go through the motions.

Azula moves in a way that Ty Lee does not quite understand. She realizes, as they dance, that maybe this will work out. She really does like dancing with the princess. Azula would never tell, but she likes dancing with Ty Lee too.

"You remembered to brush your hair today," Ty Lee says, smiling.

"Oh, shut up," Azula snaps, intentionally stepping on Ty Lee's foot. "I actually think your efforts of the past year have just been to get me to marry you."

"Maybe they were."

 **030\. Everafter**

"So, stories end with weddings," Azula whispers to Ty Lee away from the huge crowd. "I guess your legend is over."

"What's my legend?" Ty Lee asks, smiling. She glows today.

"Well, I _have_ heard they call you the _dragonslayer_. Which means it's the story of the dragon who charms the pants off of a dragonslayer and survives."

Out of the corner of her mouth, Ty Lee whispers, "I'm gonna call it _The Dragonslayer's Bride_."

Azula, very surprisingly, laughs. It sounds like a happy one.

"This _joy_ won't last."

"No. It won't. But I still think I slayed the dragon."


End file.
